


Clarity

by morbid_solemn



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Angst, F/M, Infinity War, Post Infinity War, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-02
Updated: 2018-08-02
Packaged: 2019-06-20 19:33:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15541431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/morbid_solemn/pseuds/morbid_solemn
Summary: chantelle-x0x  asked:If you’d like to do this request, it’d be amazing, however, if you don’t feel comfortable doing it, you don’t have to! My request is that after the whole thing with Thanos happens, Reader isn’t in the view of anyone (but she’s alive) and because Steve had lost Bucky and couldn’t see or find you, it starts giving him anxiety about where you might be and if you’re okay. But at the end, you find each other and bittersweet ending? Idk, if it’s something you’d want to write, but thanks x





	Clarity

**Author's Note:**

> To request a fic, please visit http://morbidsolemn.tumblr.com/ask

“Thor?” Steve looked to the Asgardian who stared vacantly over the Wakandan battlefield. “Where’d he go?” Mere moments ago, Thor had thrown his ax at Thanos who had parted soon after.

“Steve?” Bucky asked with a simple curiosity. Steve looked over, but before he could respond, his friend took one step forward and collapsed onto the ground as his he turned to dust. His other leg was gone, too, and as the rest of his body followed, Steve walked numbly over to him. The dust that was his body collected on the ground as Steve kneeled down. He looked to Thor again, in desperation. Thor looked back at him, a sense of uselessness washed over him as he realized he could not stop this. Steve placed a hand to the dirt, the leaves, the grass, and Bucky. What was left of him, at least. It was as if they were one and the same. But they weren’t. It was Bucky. It wasn’t right that Steve’s best friend should fall to dust and be unidentifiable from something as worthless as dirt.

Across the field, countless Wakandan soldiers fell to dust.

“Come,” T’Challa reached out to Okoye. “This is no place to die.” But as she took her king’s hand, it began to disintegrate.

“No, no!” Rocket Raccoon cried as Groot faded to dust.

Wanda was kneeling on the ground, holding Vision’s body in her arms as the wind carried her away.

Sam groaned and tried to sit up, but he faded to dust as well. “Sam?” Rhodes called out. “Sam, where you at?”

As this chaos unfolded, Steve wandered aimlessly through the field, settling over Vision’s body. Steve grabbed his arm and rolled him over onto his back. Behind him, Natasha joined Thor, Rhodes, Rocket Raccoon, and Bruce. As Steve looked over Vision’s body, he realized that they had lost. Thanos had all the gems, and they had lost half of the members. Their fighters, their family. He sat back against the ground with a look of despair.

“What is this?” Rhodes asked, but everyone remained silent, fearing the answer. “What the hell just happened?”

“Oh, god.” Steve finally said. Looking over the field and realizing how much they had truly lost. As he sat on the ground and placed a hand to his forehead, pulling it through his hair, his eyes went wide. “No,” he whispered. “No, no.” He stood up, running towards the Wakandan city. Natasha called out after him to no avail.

***

“I’m going to help evacuate the civilians.” You said. Everyone had been informed of the upcoming threat and were now preparing for battle. You and Steve were alone in the room, both of you looking out through the glass over the seemingly peaceful Wakandan scenery. “I have to do something, Steve,” you pleaded, pulling his hands away from his belt. “Please, let me do this.”

“I know,” he turned to you with a smile. “You have to do this.” You returned the smile. As you held his calloused but warm hands and looked into his sea-blue eyes, you realized that threat of Steve dying was very real.

“This might be the last time I see you.” You hadn’t meant to say it. It was easier to pretend that the war of your lives was ongoing, that Steve wasn’t walking into a battle he might not walk out of. But it was out there now and there was no way to take it back. His smile turned sad as he pulled your clasped hands to his mouth and placed a chaste kiss upon your fingers.

“I love you,” he said as if it wasn’t the last time you’d see him. As if it was just another day and he would come back to you to hold you once again. “And if I don’t-” You pressed forward before he could finish, slamming your lips against his, squeezing your eyes tight to make the whole world fade away. You pulled away, only to rest your forehead against his. The two of you stayed like that for a while, and finally, you pulled away slightly to look at him closely.

“Don’t,” you sighed. “Don’t even say it.” You placed your hands firmly at the back of his neck, forcing him to look you in the eye. “You’d better come back to me, Rogers.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he smiled softly and pulled you back in.

***

Steve ran through the streets of the empty city. He hadn’t wanted to let you out of his sight, but evacuations were important, and if anyone could handle a mass civilian evacuation, it was you. The empty city made sense. You and the tribe officials had planned to lead everyone out of the city to a base at the foothills of a nearby mountain. Steve ran until the mountain came into view.

He jogged to the entrance of the building. The gates opened for him and he stepped inside. There were cots set up on the floor, but all Steve saw were thousands of weeping people. Some wept for parents, some for children, but everyone had experienced a loss. Small piles of dust like the ones Steve had seen previously were scattered on the ground. There were mothers who had their hands full of dust, clutching, uselessly, to the remains of their children. The desperate wailing filled Steve’s head, and soon the grief was palpable. If you were here, you would be consoling families. He scanned the floor anyway, a feeling of dread filling him.

“No, no.” He whispered, tears rolling down his face. “No, not her,” the tears whipped past his face as he ran up the stairs to the next floor. He had lost Bucky and Sam, and Tony was still missing. After everything, he couldn’t bear to lose you too. He glanced over the second floor, the hot tears blurring his vision.

“Steve!” You yelled from behind him and the relief washed over him like a tidal wave. He turned around and caught you as you ran to him. You wrapped your legs around his waist and held his head in the crook of your neck. He held you so tight, you thought your ribs might crack but it didn’t matter. You stayed there, just breathing him, reveling in how he held onto you for dear life. “You came back to me,” you whispered.

“I had to,” he pulled away to look up at you. You left one arm wrapped around his shoulders, but placed your right hand on his cheek, rubbing his cheekbone with your thumb. You wiped the tears from his face.

“I-I don’t understand,” You turned your head to the first floor, motioning to the people in pain. “They just, they disappeared.” You looked to the side, replaying the loss of scared toddlers and caring fathers. “They turned to dust- What happened, Steve?” You looked at him, not really wanting an answer.

He placed you down. “We’ve lost everything.”


End file.
